Reviews

The Addams Family – A New Musical

Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa. North Shore Theatre Company. Zenith Theatre, Chatswood. 15-23 September 2023

The Addams Family was a counterculture comedy TV show back in the mid 60s, with iconic characters:  wealthy patriarch, Gomez Addams, his sultry wife, Morticia, their daughter, Wednesday and son, Pugsley.  Uncle Fester and Grandmama lived with them and of course Lurch, their loyal servant completed the family.

The Visitors

By Jane Harrison. Sydney Theatre Company and Moogahlin Performing Arts. Director: Wesley Enoch. Drama Theatre Sydney Opera House. 15 Sept – 14 Oct, 2023, then Riverside Theatres, October 19 - 21 and Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, October 25 to 28.

The leaders of seven clans of the Eora nation meet on a rocky sandstone cliff in January 1788. It is hot, humid, and strange clouds wisp in the summer-blue sky. Their eyes keep returning to the east where big nawi with high masts have sailed into their pristine harbour.

Turn, Turn, Turn

By Keith Gow. Theatre Works, Explosives Factory, Inkerman Street, St Kilda. 13 – 23 September 2023

Four travellers aboard a spaceship, bound for ‘Earth 8’, a new world and, they hope, a new life.  And yet each inevitably brings their past with them.  That is, when (if?) they reach ‘Earth 8’, will they be the same flawed humans as set out?  Even their rushed, queue-jumping escape from devastated ‘Earth 7’ is tainted by the dodgy means each has employed to be aboard this old space freighter…

Love Lust Lost

Created by Kirsten Siddle, written by Kirsten Siddle and Helen Cassidy. Stage direction by Scott Maidment. Produced by Broad Encounters. The Austral, 200-202 Johnston St, Collingwood. 15 September – 29 October, 2023.

Love Lust Lost are all emotions that are experienced in this impressive immersive theatre adventure. The nautical theme of the production is playfully and often facetiously explored in all its aspects and avenues. The characters who inhabit this fictional sea vessel are alluring, captivating, amusing and all incredibly sensual in their stylised movement, singing, acrobatics and dancing. The experience begins the moment you step on board where you find a welcoming and enchanting sea faring atmosphere.

Kuramanunya

By Karul Projects, featuring Thomas E.S. Kelly, New Benner Theatre, Metro Arts Brisbane, 14-16 September 2023

Presented as part of the Metro Arts and Brisbane Festival 2023 program, Kuramanunya is a ceremony for ancestors past; ancestors who were never given a ceremony in life. Some spirits were stolen; some were taken too young; some branches of the family tree never recovered to enjoy their time on country. Developed by Queensland/NSW-based contemporary indigenous dance company, Karul Projects, (in Yugambeh Language, ‘Karul’ means ‘Everything’) this is a simple, solo-performer piece, featuring the words, movement and dance of Thomas E.S.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

By George Orwell. Adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan. Theatre Guild Student Society (TGSS). Little Theatre: The Cloisters, Adelaide University. Thursday 14 September to Sunday 17th September, 2023

TGSS, created in 2017, describes itself as ‘experimental and progressive theatre at the University of Adelaide.’ Offered as an opportunity for students studying at Adelaide University, they operate under the auspices of the University of Adelaide Theatre Guild, affectionately referred to as The Guild. Well known and well regarded for presenting mainstream theatre that is often challenging or ‘cutting edge’ in Adelaide, The Guild has been the training ground of many of Adelaide’s actors, directors and technical teams.

Mr Bennet’s Bride

By Emma Wood. Canberra Repertory. Directed by Aarne Neeme. Theatre 3, Acton, A.C.T. 7–23 September 2023.

Emma Wood’s clever prequel to Pride and Prejudice looks at how the Bennet sisters’ parents came to marry.  James Bennet has spent much of his 28 years antagonising his widowed father, Robert, who has raised him with help from his widowed sister, Mary Ellingworth.  Robert is increasingly concerned that, under England’s laws of inheritance, the estate of Longbourne will eventually pass to the son of his loathsome cousin Benedict Collins unless James marries and produces a male heir.  But James has no interest in thinking of the future or in

WARU - Journey of the small turtle.

Bangarra Dance Theatre. Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne. September 15 – 19, 2023

The story of Waru – The journey of the small turtle, created by the Bangarra Dance Theatre, is directed by Stephen Page and written by Hunter Page-Lochard, who join with two alumni dancers Sani Townson and Elma Kris to present their inaugural educational children’s story on nature conservation and preservation of country. It’s an enchanting reimagining of the Waru - small green turtle, a symbolised and totemic animal in the Torres Strait communities; currently on the verge of extinction due to pollution and predators.

Maria Stuarda

By Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Giuseppe Bardari. Presented by Melbourne Opera. Directed by Suzanne Chaundy. Conducted by Raymond Lawrence. Athenaeum Theatre, 188 Collins Street, Melbourne. September 9 – 17, 2023.

In this powerful and emotional drama Donizetti imagines an encounter between Queen Elizabeth I and her rival Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. The meeting between the two women contrasts two very dominant female figures and creates a battle of will between the two. This production makes that confrontation full of fire and passion where the women are fighting a range of battlegrounds: claims to the throne, the hearts and minds of the population, and the love and loyalty of key advisors. This is all beautifully and artfully put on display in this elaborate and sumptuous production.

Cry Baby

Written & performed by Isabella Perversi. La Mama Explorations. La Mama Courthouse. 10, 11 & 12 September 2023

Before Isabella Perversi’s arrival on stage, we peer at a very small television screen showing clips from movies in which an actor cries.  Her program notes tell us that 96% of female Oscar winners ‘have cried in their performance’.  So… is crying a good thing, a bad thing, a revelation of vulnerability, a manipulative thing, a game-player tactic, a sign of neurosis, or of self-absorbed self-pity?  For Perversi, it’s a disability that is ruining her life.  The show explores such questions, although the central question is, ‘Why can&rs

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